The lives of all people flow through time,
and, regardless of how brutal one moment may be, how filled with grief or pain
or fear, time flows through all lives equally.
Orson Scott Card, Children of the Mind
Recently, I
got to thinking about how I pass my time in Second Life (SL).
(Significant
Other remarks that maybe I should think more about Real Life (RL).)
I compared
what I did inworld to what I did in RL.
(Significant
Other did not view this as a satisfactory compromise.)
I realized
that, yes, how I spend my time in RL is of more substance and consequence to
what I do in RL. (Significant Other
looks relieved.) However, there are more than a few similarities.
All this got
me thinking about all the others who visit SL regularly. How do they spend
There are
several main activities that people engage in while inworld, I’ve found during
my travels in over
five plus years of blogging about SL.
Let me share these with you.
First, there
are the social reasons.
People come
inworld to meet other people and to hang out.
They do these either as lone wanderers or in groups. Sometimes traveling across the Grid like I do
or staying in one place with one community.
Next, there
are cultural reasons.
These are
for those who are inworld for art, music, or fashion. Sometimes for all these reasons.
Then, there
are the technical reasons.
Scripters,
builders, and those who subscribe to the original “hacker” ethic fall into
this category.
Faith
based reasons are the next group.
Here people
form congregations for pray and meditation.
Often, support
for RL needs
Finally,
there are business reasons.
Folks come
inworld to run commercial activities.
Admittedly, I haven’t met many who’ve made much RL money at it but there
are many shops and other activities going on inworld. Somebody’s happy!
Of course,
then there’s the context of why all these activities are taking place inworld.
For some, it’s
simple role
playing. For others, it’s an
extension of RL. Or, as simple as a
hobby that’s being conducted virtually.
Then, there are those seeking relationships inworld. These can be mere friendship, romantic, or
sexual in nature. (Significant Other’s
eyebrows arch.)
We all come to
SL for many reasons. There may be a
reason for every visitor even. SL
complements RL for many. I’m realizing
the increasing importance of community inworld and this may have been one of
the unintended, and most beneficial, consequences of SL.
How do you
spend your time in SL?
Please share
your thoughts in the comments section of this story or drop me a line and let’s
meet up inworld to chat about your reasons!
As always, I’m grateful to all
inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was
passing through their lives!
I can be found on Google+ as
webspelunker Ghostraven.
On Skype I’m webspelunker
Ghostraven.
I welcome feedback from
readers, please either comment on my blog or
e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com
.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
Open roads and kind fires! If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
